Out West (Presented by the Western Governors’ Association)

The Western Governors' Association celebrated the 40th anniversary of its founding by hosting an afternoon of programming that included fireside chats with current and former Western Governors.

Joining WGA's current chair, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, was former Governors - and former WGA Chairs - Steve Bullock of Montana, Gary Herbert of Utah, David Ige of Hawaii, Matt Mead of Wyoming, Bob Miller of Nevada, Butch Otter of Idaho, and Brian Sandoval of Nevada. 

Their discussions, which were moderated by Judy Woodruff, the former anchor and managing editor of the PBS NewsHour, focused on the importance of bipartisanship when dealing with many of the country's complex problems. 

Tune into their discussion by listening to the latest episode of WGA's Out West podcast. 

In this episode of Out West, Jack Waldorf, Executive Director of the Western Governors' Association (WGA), sits down with WGA's Chair, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, for a discussion about their experiences leading the Association. 

They speak about the importance of their bipartisan relationships with the other Governors, their aspirations for Governor Gordon's WGA Chair Initiative, Decarbonizing the West, as well as the Association’s upcoming 40th Anniversary celebrations and what they hope the next 40 years will bring for WGA.

In this episode of Out West, Celebrate the West founder Christine Ogsbury discusses her inspiration behind starting the program and some of her most memorable moments.

The potential of geothermal energy in the West is vast and offers significant advantages in the effort to expand renewable energy resources. Advances in technology and increased interest in developing domestic sources of low-cost, reliable, clean energy have brought greater attention to the energy potential of the heat beneath our feet.

As Chair of the Western Governors’ Association in 2023, Colorado Governor Jared Polis launched The Heat Beneath Our Feet initiative to examine opportunities for and barriers to the accelerated development and deployment of geothermal energy technologies.

Through a rigorous stakeholder process that included four workshops, six tours, a public survey, and a webinar series, the Heat Beneath Our Feet initiative generated recommendations for increasing the development and deployment of geothermal energy in the West.

In this episode of Out West, Governor Polis shares some of his experiences from the initiative and discusses the policy recommendations outlined in the initiative report. You’ll also hear from Amanda Kolker, the laboratory program manager for geothermal at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory; Dr. Joseph Moore and Dr. John Mclennan, the Managing Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator at the Utah FORGE Laboratory; Nick Goodman, the CEO of Cyrq Energy, and Paul Thomsen, the Vice President of Business Development at Ormat Technologies Inc.

The Western Governors' Foundation released a new podcast highlighting Emily Cooper, the overall first-place winner of the 2023 Celebrate the West art competition, an annual art competition hosted by the Western Governors' Foundations, which challenges high school students to create original works inspired by their state or otherwise evocative of the West. Listen here as Emily discusses her winning art and what the West means to her. 

In this episode of WGA's Out West podcast, Anna Thielen, Manager of the Western Governors' Foundation, speaks with four Delegates from the 2023 Western Governors' Leadership Institute - Garrett Kelly from Arizona, Donya Sarrafian from California, Andee Baker from Montana, and Kaelan Reedy from North Dakota - about their experiences at the 2023 Western Governors' Leadership Institute where they had had chance to discuss the nuances of leadership with former and current Governors, including Jared Polis, Governor of Colorado, Mark Gordon, Governor of Wyoming, Butch Otter, former Governor of Idaho, Matt Mead, former Governor of Wyoming, David Ice, former Governor of Hawaii, and Dennis Daugaard, former Governor of South Dakota. 

Each year the Western Governors’ Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Western Governors' Association, hosts a competition that challenges high school students to create a piece of artwork that is inspired by their state. Now in its eighth year, Celebrate the West generates hundreds of amazing pieces created by budding western artists. 

The application window for this year’s competition opened on January 9th. The deadline for entries is April 30th.

In today’s episode of Out West, Anna Thielen, the Western Governors’ Foundation Manager, speaks with last year’s winner, Michelle Lin, about what inspired her acrylic painting titled Unity.

Anna also speaks with Sharron Rouse, one of the art experts on the Celebrate the West judging panel, about what made Michelle’s painting stand out. She also speaks with Thomas Wiberg, the third recipient of WGF’s Award for Outstanding High School Art Educator, about the importance of art education in the West.   

In the latest episode of WGA’s Out West podcast, The Well of the Future: Repurposing Oil and Gas Wells for Geothermal Energy Production, WGA Policy Advisor Steven Emmen sits down with Johanna Ostrum, the Chief Operating Officer of Transitional Energy; Will Pettitt, the Geothermal Discipline Lead at Baker Hughes; and Will Gosnold, a professor of geological engineering at the University of North Dakota. 

Together they delve into the potential for blending aspects of the oil and gas industry with geothermal energy production, and how doing so can help make both industries more efficient and sustainable.   

The Next Generation of Western Leaders, the latest episode of WGA’s Out West podcast, highlights the inaugural class of delegates from the 2022 Western Governors’ Leadership Institute, a new programmatic offering from the Western Governors’ Foundation that is designed to promote and encourage the effective exercise of leadership in young adults throughout the West.

Listen in as Aspen Lenning from Oklahoma, Gustaf Vanderdonck from Arizona, Samantha Mooney from Colorado, Gabriella Smith from Washington, Brandon Larranaga from New Mexico, Kaleb Dschaak from North Dakota, Jonathan Karlen from Montana, and Skyler Bollar from Idaho discuss their experiences at this year's Institute and how their interactions with the Governors, Cabinet Secretaries, and sponsors who attended the event, enhanced their perspective of effective leadership and bipartisan political action.

The new episode of WGA’s Out West podcast, 'Supporting Coal Communities,' explores the economic trends impacting Utah’s coal communities in the face of changing energy markets and state efforts to bolster economic development opportunities in those areas. 

Listen in as WGA Senior Policy Advisor, Lauren DeNinno, speaks with Alyssa Kay, Director of Program Development for the Utah Office of Energy Development, and Geri Gamber, the Executive Director of the Southeastern Utah Association of Local Governments. Together they discuss specific programs that the state has pursued to support rural economic development, like the San Rafael Energy Research Center, which works to diversify the state's energy portfolio and help employees in the coal industry transition their skills to new economic sectors.